Page 88

Olivia’s stomach dropped. That couldn’t be a coincidence.
‘What about the paddles?’ asked Arthur.
‘Right!’ She dug around in the middle of the Zodiac, where they stored emergency oars in case of a broken engine. But there was no sign of those either.
‘Everyone, back on shore,’ Melissa said, her voice resigned.
‘Melissa?’ Maxwell’s expression was grim as he looked down the side of the boat into the water.
‘What is it?’ she snapped.
He reached down and yanked something from the rubber. A knife – a jagged Stanley knife – was in his hand. ‘Looks like someone tried to slash this Zodiac too.’
The confirmation that they’d been sabotaged rushed from person to person.
They were stranded.
42
They huddled together near the ruined Zodiacs.
‘What’s the plan?’ Cutler asked.
Melissa spoke, but her words were whipped away by a sudden gust of wind that made all of them cringe down into their jackets. It seemed like the storm had gone from ‘impending’ to ‘imminent’ in an instant.
She pulled her radio from her pocket, trying to get in touch with the boat. ‘Beach toVigil. Our Zodiacs have been compromised. You need to send another to come and reach us.’
Olivia looked around the group. They were glued in place with shock. Liam was nowhere to be seen. Where could he be? The only reason she’d agreed to come on this camping trip was because he’d promised to protect her, and she knew only one person could be responsible.
Sergei. She had to let Melissa know.
Arthur was shivering, his teeth chattering as he watched Melissa repeat her call to theVigil.
The sea was now a roiling grey colour, like molten metal, the wind whipping white caps on to the waves. The clouds were much thicker, obscuring the beautiful sky of a few hours ago. Now everything was an ominous grey monochrome. Not night, but an even stranger half-dark, almost unearthly.
‘Who would have done this?’ asked Cutler, looking atthe two Zodiacs. The one with the slashed sides looked like the deflated carcass of a beached whale.
Melissa had taken custody of the knife, putting it inside her backpack. Olivia ran to her side. ‘I have an idea of who it could be.’
‘You do?’
‘Sergei. The crew member whose luggage you delivered …’
‘Impossible,’ she replied. ‘There’s no way a crewman would do this. Excuse me, I need to talk to the group. OK –’ Melissa raised her voice – ‘I want to do a headcount.’ She gestured for everyone to come close.
Olivia bit her lip, angry that Melissa wouldn’t take her seriously. She looked around for Janine and thought she spotted her at the edge of the group, the hood of her jacket up over her head so that barely the tip of her nose was visible.
All of a sudden, lightning flashed, followed by a roll of thunder so loud the group cowered. Lucinda screamed. Greg dropped to his knees, covering his head with his hands, and Tariq comforted him. Fear was contagious. No one knew who to trust, but they all could sense the danger from the environment.
‘All right, all pax are accounted for, except Liam. We need to get to some shelter.’ Melissa gritted her teeth.
‘He’s probably hiding because he did this!’ Cutler gestured at the Zodiac.
‘That’s enough,’ snapped Melissa.
‘Where is he then?’
No, not Liam, Olivia thought.Sergei.She was certain.